Newsletter

ADP, Warrior Project work on jobs effort

Augusta Warrior Project and a local business are working together to place veterans’ résumés into the hands of hiring managers.

The new partnership with ADP, a payroll services business with an office off Flowing Wells Road, allows the veteran advocacy group to accomplish its task of lowering veteran unemployment while matching the business needs of ADP, said Jim Lorraine, the executive director of Augusta Warrior Project.

“It’s a good (symbiotic) relationship,” Lorraine said. “We’d like to open it up to other companies.”

One of the challenges facing new veterans is finding work and transferring their military skills into the civilian sector. Advocates at Augusta Warrior Project have the experience to find marketable skills for new veterans and place them into jobs by working directly with the companies, Lorraine said.

Deb Fortin, the general manager of ADP’s Augusta Solutions Center, said the partnership has allowed it to tap into a vast talent pool.

Security clearances and familiarity with handling sensitive material are among the biggest advantages offered by veterans, Fortin said, because much of ADP’s work involves payroll information and background checks. The company is also seeking leadership skills that noncommissioned officers and officers can bring to management positions.

Ric Morrow, a former lieutenant colonel, started working for ADP after retiring from the Marine Corps Reserves in 2001. It can be tough for a machine gunner to find his role in the civilian world, Morrow said, so veterans should not focus on that aspect of their careers. Instead, they should show examples of leadership as squad leaders and their responsibilities in the service, he said.

“(Young men and women) get an opportunity to go into the service and be held accountable for all they do,” Morrow said. “That really matures a lot of them.”